Manaslu Avalanche and Potential Typhoon at Month End?
Given the recent heavy snowfall, avalanche activity on Manaslu’s upper slopes was inevitable. Meanwhile, the likelihood of a typhoon affecting the region is increasing. Climbers and teams must now gather the latest data and make responsible decisions.
Manalsu Challenges Teams
Despite heavy snow, avalanches, and approaching storms, teams continue making acclimatization rotations as high as Camp 2. They are preparing for summit bids once the ropes are fixed to the summit.
With a record 480 permits, Manaslu is experiencing Everest-like queues as shown in this IG video from Dawa Sherpa:
Lakpa Sherpa, managing director and expedition leader of 8K Expeditions, said additional Sherpas will join the rope-fixing team, according to Tourism Times.
An avalanche struck the slope above Camp III on the morning of September 16, 2026, disrupting the rope-fixing work. Lakpa said four additional Sherpa guides had been mobilized with 1,300 meters of rope and other necessary equipment.
“An avalanche struck the mountain slope above Camp III immediately after the team returned to Camp III, and they all are safe,” he informed.
Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Systems update me today that Manaslu could feel the effects of a developing typhoon: “The Tropical signal is still strong in the data. Approximate timeline 9/24-9/28.”
Manaslu Has a History of Avalanches
Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain, has a long history of deadly high-altitude avalanches and serac collapses:
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September 2022: Avalanches struck Base Camp and the higher camps, destroying tents and killing Nepali guide Dawa Chhiring Sherpa. In a separate incident, ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson disappeared and died while descending the mountain.
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September 2012: A massive serac collapse triggered an avalanche that swept through Camp III, killing numerous climbers and guides in one of Manaslu’s worst disasters.
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April 1972: An avalanche destroyed a South Korean expedition’s camp, killing 15 people.
Dhaulagiri
Shishapangma & Cho Oyu
No climbers are scheduled to climb the 8000ers within Tibet, since China closed Tibet to foreign climbers.
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Alan
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A surge of debilitating fatigue overtook me. My shoulders drooped. I stared at my yellow boots, crushed by disappointment. I had trained hard for K2 and tried to anticipate every scenario, but now I was failing, and there was nothing I could do.
Closing my eyes, I was powerless, hopeless, and ready to surrender to the mountain. Everything I wanted—the summit, a safe return, my vow to my mother—was slipping away.
My ice axe dangled from my harness as my grip was weak.
Staring at the small yellowish spot illuminated by my headlamp on the snow, it was over, and, oddly, I didn’t care.
It was 12:30 a.m. on July 27, 2014—my fifty-eighth birthday.
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